Caroline May - The Daily Caller Caroline May - The Daily Caller – Fri Mar 11, 12:19 am ET
The Military Leadership Diversity Commission’s (MLDC) conclusion this week that there are too many white men in senior positions in the military “is a slap in the face” to those minorities who have achieved seniority, according to retired Lt. Colonel and Florida Republican Rep. Allen West.
According to the MLDC’s report, released Monday, 77 percent of active duty senior officers are white, 8 percent are black, 5 percent are Hispanic and 16 percent are women. The report suggested the lack of minorities in military leadership is something that needs to change. To that end, the commission’s report includes 20 recommendations on how to increase the proportion of minority officers in the military in order to create a fighting force that better represents the make up of the population it defends.
In an interview with The Daily Caller, West, who is black, was not pleased with the report, saying that the military is not a social experiment for outside groups to impose their theories. Rather, he said, it is a merit based organization where anybody can succeed.
“Everyone that comes into the military has an equal opportunity to get promoted to the next level. It is not about outside entities trying to engineer and design results and outcomes or create a sense of equal achievement and when some military diversity group writes a report saying there are too many white men on top,” West said. “It is kind of a slap in the face to those who have risen through the ranks such as four star General [Lloyd] Austin, [General] Kip Ward, many others. We don’t need these outside entities trying to design or shape a military.”
West continued by noting that many confuse privileges with rights. To West, it is a privilege to serve in the military. He also said it is not an institution with which outsiders should tinker, especially while engaged in conflicts abroad.
“I think that when you look at these groups and other liberal special interest groups that keep trying to chip away at the military,” he said. “We are engaged with a very vicious enemy in two combat areas and who knows what is going to happen in North Africa and the Middle East and now is not the time for us to stop and start sensitivity training.”
West suspects that the military as an institution is targeted by liberals because of the things it represents.
“The military stands for things that liberals don’t care for: standards, discipline, honor, character. And those are things they don’t like because they believe everyone should be equal…that is not what the military is all about.”
Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sconnie-Leaks Response
The below article sent to Wisconsin teachers by the Wisconsin Education Association Council states: "In the real world.....where costs increase and children need opportunities to succeed, the coming years look pretty bleak."
Very simply, I do not accept that costs NEED to increase in order for kids to have opportunities. If you're talking only about inflation, fine, that is the one alibi.
Overall, I think the article has a pretty one-sided viewpoint and too eagerly offers to smear. The comparison of Walker to Communist Berlin is either amusing or enraging, take your pick. The authors state that unions aspire for narrow political ends, but I do not agree with that premise. If it were up to them, there would be no checks and balances; unions would allow themselves the ability to rule absolutely.
Lastly, the article cites the ruling of the United Nations and claims to have the support of religious leaders in order to offer credibility to a political or governmental problem. As a result, I think it should be taken with alarm. For starters, the UN is not 100% made up of free nations, not even close. If this is a news flash to you I would strongly suggest not using morphine while participating in life. Until March 1st, 2011, Libya was on the UN human rights council. Fucking amazing, huh?
Education does not have to be expensive to be excellent. Look at the Marines - they get less than 8% of the DOD budget, yet they get tasked with a massive piece of the pie when it comes to operating in Iraq and Afghanistan and all of the constant short-notice strike force capabilities our Nation calls for throughout the world. They are extremely successful. The reason is their discipline and adaptability. There is also no victim mentality in the Marines. All Marines were properly parented in their days as a recruit and young Marine, and except for the few shit-bags that always seem to squeak though, virtually all had an excellent foundation before they became Sergeants and Colonels.
Four traits - discipline, adaptability, lack of victim mentality thereby forcing you to earn everything for yourself, and proper parenting. None of these things cost money. In the case of all the social programs that progressives support, the cost of teaching people NOT to properly parent outdoes any state's school budget ten-fold.
Those four traits also allowed people, some of whom were probably educated early on in a one room school house, to discover atomic energy. Those same traits allowed members of Apollo 13 to stay alive, and what allowed the ground crew of Apollo 13 to make a square air filter round and have it work and then re-calculate every capsule re-entry schematic known to man in a matter of hours. School teacher, one room school house - that is where many of them got their foundation. Imagine that, way before LBJ's war on poverty eventually led to Carter creating a US Department of Education, rocket scientists were, well, learning the baseline for how to become rocket scientists.
Ironically, I remember watching Obama give a speech last year at NASA where he talked about the need to increase NASA's funding and how that would save jobs at NASA. I couldn't believe it. He actually thought it was important to merely employ big numbers at NASA for the sake of the unemployment rate. This should be absolutely shocking to every red-blooded American. If I ran the show, as Commander in Chief I would demand to employ the magic number of people at NASA that led to maximizing achievement. I would look at NASA as being beholden to nothing but excellence, and most certainly NOT anything remotely related to the unemployment rate. 'Not the best in your field, we'll gladly replace you' would be the theme. I would set a mentality that they needed to produce, and that competition was the best way in the world to advance humankind.
When you go out into the forest to learn how to navigate for survival, no true professional will throw you a GPS and say you'll be okay. You have to spend a lot of time, and I mean a lot of time, mastering the use of a 1950's model compass and a basic map and all the techniques in order to make both items work wonders for you. Then, you can receive the GPS that will allow you to shortcut success. But still, pack your compass and map.
In much the same way, nobody needs an iPad or laptop computer to take home with them in order to learn. You also don't need lots of mediocre teachers, you need to have less absolutely excellent ones. Look up Bill Gates on this subject, he is leading the debate for identifying traits in teachers that actually yield results in learning. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/united-states/Pages/education-strategy.aspx
Students need proper leadership that will force needed repetition and the discipline to actually sit there and be patient and not get up until they master the basics. That leadership comes from teachers and parents. I believe it relevant at this time to point out the fact that China and India and most certainly Japan are kicking our asses in math and science. I bet many of their students don't have a new computer in the classroom every year. As you see now in Japan in the wake of the Tsunami, discipline and order is now all that is holding up their society on a day to day basis.
Nobody needs to be handed opportunities to succeed. Give people the basic and proper timeless foundations and they will do more succeeding for themselves than you can shake a stick at. If they fail, let them fail. With a good foundation they will amend their ways and try again, better for the lesson they learned in the process.
My educational bottom line? Change the dynamic of the educator's mind-set - give them incentive to stand on their own two feet and set the bar on their own. Let teachers enforce real and honest discipline, for if they are stripped of their ability to control a classroom, we all fail big time. Find a way to take tenure out of the equation and focus on real results (see Bill Gates link). Far and away, absolutely demand that education begin a new (and old) clear course; one that takes students back to an environment where instilling a brilliance in the basics is everything.
My political bottom line? Let workers organize, but let them not organize as well. Walker has been severely hindered for not making his central argument the fact that when you get hired to teach in Wisconsin you HAVE HAD NO CHOICE but to join the union. I do not understand why Republicans didn't shape the argument by declaring that this was one issue that they were actually pro-choice.
Government is nothing but force, as George Washington stated, and we should never forget that government has a monopoly on the legal use of force. Unions’ allying with the Democratic Party in order to harness the force of government has led to public sector workers being legally forced by statute to MANDATORILY PARTICIPATE in unions. This is nothing more than a mafia tactic, no exaggeration.
To me, that is what this whole thing is about.
Very simply, I do not accept that costs NEED to increase in order for kids to have opportunities. If you're talking only about inflation, fine, that is the one alibi.
Overall, I think the article has a pretty one-sided viewpoint and too eagerly offers to smear. The comparison of Walker to Communist Berlin is either amusing or enraging, take your pick. The authors state that unions aspire for narrow political ends, but I do not agree with that premise. If it were up to them, there would be no checks and balances; unions would allow themselves the ability to rule absolutely.
Lastly, the article cites the ruling of the United Nations and claims to have the support of religious leaders in order to offer credibility to a political or governmental problem. As a result, I think it should be taken with alarm. For starters, the UN is not 100% made up of free nations, not even close. If this is a news flash to you I would strongly suggest not using morphine while participating in life. Until March 1st, 2011, Libya was on the UN human rights council. Fucking amazing, huh?
Education does not have to be expensive to be excellent. Look at the Marines - they get less than 8% of the DOD budget, yet they get tasked with a massive piece of the pie when it comes to operating in Iraq and Afghanistan and all of the constant short-notice strike force capabilities our Nation calls for throughout the world. They are extremely successful. The reason is their discipline and adaptability. There is also no victim mentality in the Marines. All Marines were properly parented in their days as a recruit and young Marine, and except for the few shit-bags that always seem to squeak though, virtually all had an excellent foundation before they became Sergeants and Colonels.
Four traits - discipline, adaptability, lack of victim mentality thereby forcing you to earn everything for yourself, and proper parenting. None of these things cost money. In the case of all the social programs that progressives support, the cost of teaching people NOT to properly parent outdoes any state's school budget ten-fold.
Those four traits also allowed people, some of whom were probably educated early on in a one room school house, to discover atomic energy. Those same traits allowed members of Apollo 13 to stay alive, and what allowed the ground crew of Apollo 13 to make a square air filter round and have it work and then re-calculate every capsule re-entry schematic known to man in a matter of hours. School teacher, one room school house - that is where many of them got their foundation. Imagine that, way before LBJ's war on poverty eventually led to Carter creating a US Department of Education, rocket scientists were, well, learning the baseline for how to become rocket scientists.
Ironically, I remember watching Obama give a speech last year at NASA where he talked about the need to increase NASA's funding and how that would save jobs at NASA. I couldn't believe it. He actually thought it was important to merely employ big numbers at NASA for the sake of the unemployment rate. This should be absolutely shocking to every red-blooded American. If I ran the show, as Commander in Chief I would demand to employ the magic number of people at NASA that led to maximizing achievement. I would look at NASA as being beholden to nothing but excellence, and most certainly NOT anything remotely related to the unemployment rate. 'Not the best in your field, we'll gladly replace you' would be the theme. I would set a mentality that they needed to produce, and that competition was the best way in the world to advance humankind.
When you go out into the forest to learn how to navigate for survival, no true professional will throw you a GPS and say you'll be okay. You have to spend a lot of time, and I mean a lot of time, mastering the use of a 1950's model compass and a basic map and all the techniques in order to make both items work wonders for you. Then, you can receive the GPS that will allow you to shortcut success. But still, pack your compass and map.
In much the same way, nobody needs an iPad or laptop computer to take home with them in order to learn. You also don't need lots of mediocre teachers, you need to have less absolutely excellent ones. Look up Bill Gates on this subject, he is leading the debate for identifying traits in teachers that actually yield results in learning. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/united-states/Pages/education-strategy.aspx
Students need proper leadership that will force needed repetition and the discipline to actually sit there and be patient and not get up until they master the basics. That leadership comes from teachers and parents. I believe it relevant at this time to point out the fact that China and India and most certainly Japan are kicking our asses in math and science. I bet many of their students don't have a new computer in the classroom every year. As you see now in Japan in the wake of the Tsunami, discipline and order is now all that is holding up their society on a day to day basis.
Nobody needs to be handed opportunities to succeed. Give people the basic and proper timeless foundations and they will do more succeeding for themselves than you can shake a stick at. If they fail, let them fail. With a good foundation they will amend their ways and try again, better for the lesson they learned in the process.
My educational bottom line? Change the dynamic of the educator's mind-set - give them incentive to stand on their own two feet and set the bar on their own. Let teachers enforce real and honest discipline, for if they are stripped of their ability to control a classroom, we all fail big time. Find a way to take tenure out of the equation and focus on real results (see Bill Gates link). Far and away, absolutely demand that education begin a new (and old) clear course; one that takes students back to an environment where instilling a brilliance in the basics is everything.
My political bottom line? Let workers organize, but let them not organize as well. Walker has been severely hindered for not making his central argument the fact that when you get hired to teach in Wisconsin you HAVE HAD NO CHOICE but to join the union. I do not understand why Republicans didn't shape the argument by declaring that this was one issue that they were actually pro-choice.
Government is nothing but force, as George Washington stated, and we should never forget that government has a monopoly on the legal use of force. Unions’ allying with the Democratic Party in order to harness the force of government has led to public sector workers being legally forced by statute to MANDATORILY PARTICIPATE in unions. This is nothing more than a mafia tactic, no exaggeration.
To me, that is what this whole thing is about.
The Following was Emailed to Teachers by the Wisconsin Education Association Council
Walker's Credibility
Yesterday, Governor Walker held a press conference at which he held that his budget, which cuts almost one billion dollars from school funding, will not mean any cuts to school staff or services. If you are gasping in disbelief, you are not alone and it's probably not the first time. Below is an article with links that explain the simple math of the matter and an article on the school district that supports Governor Walker's wild (and perhaps delusional) assertions about the impact of his cuts.
New Berlin or Old Berlin
In his interview with a blogger thought to be David Koch, Governor Scott Walker said Ronald Regan's defining moment was the firing of 10,000 striking air traffic controllers. Walker expressed his belief that this was "the first crack in the Berlin Wall" leading to the fall of communism. It was therefore ironic, but not surprising, that New Berlin Superintendent Paul Kreutzer stated yesterday that he was attracted to the agenda of Governor Scott Walker. What's wrong with this picture?
Why does Superintendent Kreutzer embrace Walker's new law that strips unions of their rights to bargain? Could it be because his administration is embroiled in litigation accused of taking $7.1 million from an employee health fund - money the union believes would have lowered health care costs had it not been removed in violation of the employees' contract? Could it be that he dislikes criticism for implementing large lecture-style classes with as many as 56 children in a class? Maybe it's because the union held the district accountable when it used layoffs (like Walker) in an effort to ratchet up pressure on members to settle their contract. When this failed, they called all of the teachers back at significant expense to the district. Or is it simply a shared value with Walker that employers should be able to exercise power as they please, and reward who they want, without checks and balances that unions ensure?
After the defeat of fascism, free nations came together in 1948 and through the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among its conventions is Article 23 that identifies the right to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining as an essential right of workers. Not just for private sector employees or unions that support the political party in power, but all workers. America stood by these values when it came to supporting an independent voice for workers in Poland and throughout the Soviet Bloc. It's wrong for extremist politicians to bust unions that do not support their narrow political ends. This is precisely what Walker and the Republican-controlled Senate and Assembly have done in Wisconsin and why their actions are such an egregious abuse of power.
In an open letter to Walker, the president of the Polish Union Solidarnosc expressed support and solidarity with Wisconsin workers' struggle against his assault on union rights. This is the president of the 700,000 member union that helped take down Polish Soviet rule. He noted that we are witnessing yet another attempt to use an economic crisis brought on by Wall Street as an excuse to take more money away from working people and their families.
Religious leaders have also condemned the governor's actions. Catholic Archbishop Listecki wrote in an open letter that hard times do not nullify the moral obligation each of us has to respect the legitimate rights of workers. The archbishop's sentiments were echoed by the Episcopal Bishop of Milwaukee, together with bishops of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church and the South-Central Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. They have been joined by 350 additional pastors and religious leaders in an open letter condemning the new law that takes away worker rights.
Yet, despite this broad support for fundamental worker rights, the positions of Walker and Kreutzer more closely align with those of the old Berlinrather than those embraced by the free and unified new Berlin of today. In the end, they too will be on the wrong side of history.
Yesterday, Governor Walker held a press conference at which he held that his budget, which cuts almost one billion dollars from school funding, will not mean any cuts to school staff or services. If you are gasping in disbelief, you are not alone and it's probably not the first time. Below is an article with links that explain the simple math of the matter and an article on the school district that supports Governor Walker's wild (and perhaps delusional) assertions about the impact of his cuts.
New Berlin or Old Berlin
In his interview with a blogger thought to be David Koch, Governor Scott Walker said Ronald Regan's defining moment was the firing of 10,000 striking air traffic controllers. Walker expressed his belief that this was "the first crack in the Berlin Wall" leading to the fall of communism. It was therefore ironic, but not surprising, that New Berlin Superintendent Paul Kreutzer stated yesterday that he was attracted to the agenda of Governor Scott Walker. What's wrong with this picture?
Why does Superintendent Kreutzer embrace Walker's new law that strips unions of their rights to bargain? Could it be because his administration is embroiled in litigation accused of taking $7.1 million from an employee health fund - money the union believes would have lowered health care costs had it not been removed in violation of the employees' contract? Could it be that he dislikes criticism for implementing large lecture-style classes with as many as 56 children in a class? Maybe it's because the union held the district accountable when it used layoffs (like Walker) in an effort to ratchet up pressure on members to settle their contract. When this failed, they called all of the teachers back at significant expense to the district. Or is it simply a shared value with Walker that employers should be able to exercise power as they please, and reward who they want, without checks and balances that unions ensure?
After the defeat of fascism, free nations came together in 1948 and through the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Among its conventions is Article 23 that identifies the right to organize unions and engage in collective bargaining as an essential right of workers. Not just for private sector employees or unions that support the political party in power, but all workers. America stood by these values when it came to supporting an independent voice for workers in Poland and throughout the Soviet Bloc. It's wrong for extremist politicians to bust unions that do not support their narrow political ends. This is precisely what Walker and the Republican-controlled Senate and Assembly have done in Wisconsin and why their actions are such an egregious abuse of power.
In an open letter to Walker, the president of the Polish Union Solidarnosc expressed support and solidarity with Wisconsin workers' struggle against his assault on union rights. This is the president of the 700,000 member union that helped take down Polish Soviet rule. He noted that we are witnessing yet another attempt to use an economic crisis brought on by Wall Street as an excuse to take more money away from working people and their families.
Religious leaders have also condemned the governor's actions. Catholic Archbishop Listecki wrote in an open letter that hard times do not nullify the moral obligation each of us has to respect the legitimate rights of workers. The archbishop's sentiments were echoed by the Episcopal Bishop of Milwaukee, together with bishops of the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church and the South-Central Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. They have been joined by 350 additional pastors and religious leaders in an open letter condemning the new law that takes away worker rights.
Yet, despite this broad support for fundamental worker rights, the positions of Walker and Kreutzer more closely align with those of the old Berlinrather than those embraced by the free and unified new Berlin of today. In the end, they too will be on the wrong side of history.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Real Championship
Spot-on article by Daniel Henninger in today's Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Obama is on his way to Rio with the fam (most likely bringing his NCAA bracket and iodide pills).
Oh, and my pick for the final four? Gadhafi, nuclear plume, stopgap #3 and union thuggery. I know, I know...all #1 seeds.
I'm picking nuclear plume going head-to-head with Gadhafi, with all of us losing.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204761671518054.html
Oh, and my pick for the final four? Gadhafi, nuclear plume, stopgap #3 and union thuggery. I know, I know...all #1 seeds.
I'm picking nuclear plume going head-to-head with Gadhafi, with all of us losing.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204761671518054.html
Saturday, March 12, 2011
As a Wisconsinite, I’ve had the good fortune to witness up close the intense debate over Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill. The public sector unions have pitted themselves against the conservative Governor and his Republican Senate and Assemblymen for the last three weeks, with no end in sight as the courts and the ballot box are dragged into the fight.
In early February, protesters began swarming the state capitol building in Madison shortly after Governor Walker unveiled his budget repair bill which would strip the state’s public sector unions of most of their collective bargaining rights (along with other provisions). What took place was unheard of: teachers walked off their jobs, illegally, to protest alongside their students. Those same teachers received fake sick notices from doctors in an effort to avoid any punishment from school administrators. Fourteen state democrats fled to Illinois, where they would remain for three weeks, in a sign of solidarity with the “hard-working middle class” who were being “bullied” by a mean governor. Professional protesters from national labor organizations such as SEIU and Organizing for America traveled to Wisconsin to join and organize daily protests.
Wisconsin became headline news for every major media outlet day after day. Everyone, including President Obama, had an opinion. Eighteen of the Senate Republicans and all of the Assembly Republicans received death threats after the vote took place. Governor Walker became the poster boy for other conservative governors also desiring to loosen the yoke around their states' neck held by unions. My Facebook page lit up like a Christmas tree with people passionate about each side of the debate.
And the truth came out. The more media coverage, the more the bill was dissected, the more people learned about the influence of public sector unions and the inner workings of collective bargaining rights, and the more the issue became polarizing. Wisconsin quickly became the national battleground for the fight between state budgets and union control.
During this time something kept irritating me. Sure, the democrats hiding in Illinois, switching hotels every night, enjoying continental breakfasts while considering themselves real-life "spies" is enough to irritate a cactus. Greasy college students making a human peace sign in the center of the capitol's rotunda and strapping duck tape across their mouths is enough to irritate a monk in a cenobitic community. But something else was really bothering me.
Then I figured it out. Is THIS what it takes to ignite interest, passion and motivation amongst Americans? Is THIS what people care about? Let's be honest what THIS whole debate is about: whether public sector union members should be allowed to collectively bargain for unprecedented levels of benefits, perks and salaries, paid for by the state's taxpayers, and to what extent unions should have authority over the financial decisions within their local communities.
THIS has kindled the flame long dormant. Cries of "democracy!" and "justice!" and "human rights!" have flowed from the lips of tens of thousands of people-- not just in Wisconsin. Elementary school teachers, spouses of teachers, children of union employees, college students, law enforcement officers and many other groups of people came alive. Over benefits. Over salaries. Over paid-time off. Over union dues. Over--their--money.
This entire situation reminded me of a Bible verse: "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known or brought out into the open." (Luke 8:17) We all see it now. The influence of money upon many Americans. The stranglehold our government has understood for decades: money makes elections go around. We see it in the crushing weight of entitlement programs and catastrophic debt that is hell-bent on destroying our country.
Where are the protesters crying foul because of the historical (and expedited) spending binge of government? We cannot continue to spend like trust fund teenagers with a credit card while cutting spending with dull scissors. We are on an unsustainable path, and our children and grandchildren will bear the burden.
Where are the teachers walking off campuses and school yards in a sign of solidarity for the students? The U.S. Department of Education is predicted to spend $77.8 BILLION on education in 2011 alone, but in most major cities across the country, less than half of all children graduate high school.
Where are the protesters storming their state capitol buildings, demanding that the government stop federal funding to Planned Parenthood, who has been caught numerous times advising self-addressed sex traffickers and accepting donations targeted towards aborting African American babies?
Where are the national lobbying groups protesting in our nation's capitol because our president cannot seem to find the word "terrorist" in his vocabulary, all the while he and his administration ignore the growing threat of multiculturalism and radical Islam? We wouldn't want to offend Muslims. We can't speak about homegrown terrorism because we don't want to play into al Qaeda's hands (No really, Sheila Jackson Lee says so).
Instead, tens of thousands of hard-working Americans choose to record American Idol and forgo the bag of potato chips for three weeks so they can speak their peace about their right to bargain with sympathetic school boards and administrators for plush retirement packages.
It's going to take more than these words from our generation if we want to right the wrongs. We are at a tipping point, and it's time for us to be the next "Greatest Generation." It will require much more than caring about issues that directly affect our weekly paychecks. We need collective sacrifice more than collective bargaining rights. And I'm not referring to Obama's connotation of sacrifice; we will need to sacrifice our time, or energy and (gasp) our money if we want to steer this ship on the right course once again. We will only have this Republic as long as we (read: you and me) keep it. What will you do?
In early February, protesters began swarming the state capitol building in Madison shortly after Governor Walker unveiled his budget repair bill which would strip the state’s public sector unions of most of their collective bargaining rights (along with other provisions). What took place was unheard of: teachers walked off their jobs, illegally, to protest alongside their students. Those same teachers received fake sick notices from doctors in an effort to avoid any punishment from school administrators. Fourteen state democrats fled to Illinois, where they would remain for three weeks, in a sign of solidarity with the “hard-working middle class” who were being “bullied” by a mean governor. Professional protesters from national labor organizations such as SEIU and Organizing for America traveled to Wisconsin to join and organize daily protests.
Wisconsin became headline news for every major media outlet day after day. Everyone, including President Obama, had an opinion. Eighteen of the Senate Republicans and all of the Assembly Republicans received death threats after the vote took place. Governor Walker became the poster boy for other conservative governors also desiring to loosen the yoke around their states' neck held by unions. My Facebook page lit up like a Christmas tree with people passionate about each side of the debate.
And the truth came out. The more media coverage, the more the bill was dissected, the more people learned about the influence of public sector unions and the inner workings of collective bargaining rights, and the more the issue became polarizing. Wisconsin quickly became the national battleground for the fight between state budgets and union control.
During this time something kept irritating me. Sure, the democrats hiding in Illinois, switching hotels every night, enjoying continental breakfasts while considering themselves real-life "spies" is enough to irritate a cactus. Greasy college students making a human peace sign in the center of the capitol's rotunda and strapping duck tape across their mouths is enough to irritate a monk in a cenobitic community. But something else was really bothering me.
Then I figured it out. Is THIS what it takes to ignite interest, passion and motivation amongst Americans? Is THIS what people care about? Let's be honest what THIS whole debate is about: whether public sector union members should be allowed to collectively bargain for unprecedented levels of benefits, perks and salaries, paid for by the state's taxpayers, and to what extent unions should have authority over the financial decisions within their local communities.
THIS has kindled the flame long dormant. Cries of "democracy!" and "justice!" and "human rights!" have flowed from the lips of tens of thousands of people-- not just in Wisconsin. Elementary school teachers, spouses of teachers, children of union employees, college students, law enforcement officers and many other groups of people came alive. Over benefits. Over salaries. Over paid-time off. Over union dues. Over--their--money.
This entire situation reminded me of a Bible verse: "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known or brought out into the open." (Luke 8:17) We all see it now. The influence of money upon many Americans. The stranglehold our government has understood for decades: money makes elections go around. We see it in the crushing weight of entitlement programs and catastrophic debt that is hell-bent on destroying our country.
Where are the protesters crying foul because of the historical (and expedited) spending binge of government? We cannot continue to spend like trust fund teenagers with a credit card while cutting spending with dull scissors. We are on an unsustainable path, and our children and grandchildren will bear the burden.
Where are the teachers walking off campuses and school yards in a sign of solidarity for the students? The U.S. Department of Education is predicted to spend $77.8 BILLION on education in 2011 alone, but in most major cities across the country, less than half of all children graduate high school.
Where are the protesters storming their state capitol buildings, demanding that the government stop federal funding to Planned Parenthood, who has been caught numerous times advising self-addressed sex traffickers and accepting donations targeted towards aborting African American babies?
Where are the national lobbying groups protesting in our nation's capitol because our president cannot seem to find the word "terrorist" in his vocabulary, all the while he and his administration ignore the growing threat of multiculturalism and radical Islam? We wouldn't want to offend Muslims. We can't speak about homegrown terrorism because we don't want to play into al Qaeda's hands (No really, Sheila Jackson Lee says so).
Instead, tens of thousands of hard-working Americans choose to record American Idol and forgo the bag of potato chips for three weeks so they can speak their peace about their right to bargain with sympathetic school boards and administrators for plush retirement packages.
It's going to take more than these words from our generation if we want to right the wrongs. We are at a tipping point, and it's time for us to be the next "Greatest Generation." It will require much more than caring about issues that directly affect our weekly paychecks. We need collective sacrifice more than collective bargaining rights. And I'm not referring to Obama's connotation of sacrifice; we will need to sacrifice our time, or energy and (gasp) our money if we want to steer this ship on the right course once again. We will only have this Republic as long as we (read: you and me) keep it. What will you do?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Comforting Associations
Video is of an interview with Larry Grathwohl, an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated The Weather Underground, an ultra-left organization founded by Bill Ayers in 1969. Grathwohl has testified to the fact that Ayers routinely expressed his want to overthrow the United States government. In an interview in January 2009, Grathwohl stated that:
"The thing the most bone chilling thing Bill Ayers said to me was that after the revolution succeeded and the government was overthrown, they believed they would have to eliminate 25 million Americans who would not conform to the new order."
Grathwohl’s testimony was never admitted because of “prosecutorial misconduct”.
For the time being, like former Obama White House Czar Van Jones, Ayers and the leftist radicals have appeared to drop the radical high-profile prose, at least for the time being, in exchange for the radical ends (although if you catch them speaking to sympathetic groups you will find them praising Mao Tse Tung and Hugo Chavez extensively).
Very simply, they chose, some time ago, to create an environment where nothing is what it seems.
Instead of such blatant, extreme public rhetoric they have instead committed themselves to laying the foundation for their vision thru massive public law and policy changes. Essentially, they have mastered the same idea behind wearing sunglasses and baseball hats during a poker game; they have mastered the Sun Tzu art of patience and deception.
Such was not always the case.
In 1969, Ayers participated in planting a bomb at a statue dedicated to police casualties in the 1886 Haymarket affair confrontation between labor supporters and the Chicago Police. The blast broke almost 100 windows and blew pieces of the statue onto the nearby Kennedy Expressway (The statue was rebuilt and unveiled on May 4, 1970, and blown up again by other Weathermen on October 6, 1970).
Ayers is the former roommate of Terry Robbins, a fellow militant who was killed in 1970 in a Greenwich Village townhouse explosion while constructing anti-personnel bombs intended for a non-commissioned officer dance at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Also killed in the same explosion was Diana Oughton, who was the girlfriend of none other Bill Ayers.
From the NY Times Website: “[Ayers] writes that he participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, of the Capitol building in 1971, the Pentagon in 1972. But Mr. Ayers also seems to want to have it both ways, taking responsibility for daring acts in his youth, then deflecting it”.
See the whole article at: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DE1438F932A2575AC0A9679C8B63
Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn (who is now his wife and also an Associate Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law), disappeared in 1970 after the Greenwich Village townhouse bombing. In 1973, while they were on the run using various alias identities, new information came to light about the FBI running operations against Weather Underground and the New Left. Made public were a series of covert and often illegal FBI projects called COINTEL. Due to the illegal tactics of FBI agents involved with the program, government attorneys requested all weapons and bomb-related charges be dropped against the Weather Underground, including charges against Ayers.
However, state charges against Dohrn remained. Dohrn was still reluctant to turn herself in to authorities. "He was sweet and patient, as he always is, to let me come to my senses on my own", she later said of Ayers.
She eventually turned herself into authorities in 1980. She was fined $1,500 and given three years probation.
They were never prosecuted for their involvement with the 25 bombings, even though the Weather Underground had claimed responsibility; as stated all charges were dropped because of improper "FBI surveillance".
Unbelievably, Ayers told this to the New York Times in 2001: “I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough.”
I know, shocking. Want more? Perhaps this is the most interesting part of all:
In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district’s influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
Obama may have been born in Hawaii. I do not challenge that. But the above is not fiction. Its fact.
More information: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8630.html
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